CHICAGO Teams

By refusing to back down three years ago and again last week, the Marlins slugger set the stage for the Bronx Bombers to make a stunning deal.

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Jesse Rogers ESPN Staff Writer

Watch Theo Epstein break down the Cardinals, who traded for Marcell Ozuna on Wednesday. He had a feeling this would be a big offseason for St. Louis.

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Jesse Rogers ESPN Staff Writer

Scott Boras seems determined to get Jake Arrieta a Justin Verlander/Max Scherzer type deal. He keeps mentioning them and Arrieta in the same sentence, citing their big game playoff resume, and in Arrieta's case, his lighter workload heading into free agency than the others had.

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Jesse Rogers ESPN Staff Writer

Jesse Rogers ESPN Staff Writer

Spoke to Mike Montgomery today after a report from Ken Rosenthal of Fox/Athletic that he's adamant about starting: "I'm at that point in my career where that's what I want. In my opinion I think it's in the team's best interest for me to do that but then again I don't make those decisions." Montgomery said he won't ask to be traded but is making it very clear what he wants to do moving forward.

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Jeff Dickerson ESPN Staff Writer

What's left for the Bears (4-9) to play for? "We want to be the Grinch this year," linebacker Danny Trevathan told reporters at Halas Hall on Wednesday.

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Jeff Dickerson ESPN Staff Writer

Bears defensive tackle Akiem Hicks (team-high seven sacks) has played at a Pro Bowl level in 2017 but the veteran expressed disappointment on Wednesday over his number of missed opportunities. "I think I missed about four sacks in the last month," Hicks told reporters at Halas Hall. "I'm talking about hands on the quarterback and falling off. But in those situations I've set up other guys to be able to finish those sacks off."

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Jeff Dickerson ESPN Staff Writer

"I think his return style was unique; Devin Hester's was. His ability to set up blocks in the open field while still being able to move and change the angles of people. What I noticed watching him return, it always like he was never looking at the guy that was in front of him. He was one block ahead. He knew how he was going to make this guy miss; he was trying to make the next guy miss and set up his blocks." -- Bears special teams coordinator on Devin Hester, who announced his retirement on Tuesday.

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Jeff Dickerson ESPN Staff Writer

“He's got great talent, No.1. He's very accurate. He's got great arm talent. He can put the ball on the money with good speed and anticipation, puts it in the right spots and it just shows his experience in those situations that he knows when to take maybe a little extra chance or when it's got to be thrown in there tighter or on time and on rhythm. He's a very impressive quarterback. You can see why they gave him all that money.” -- Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on Saturday's opponent, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The Chicago Cubs have agreed to a two-year deal with free-agent left-hander Drew Smyly, the team announced Tuesday night.

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Jesse Rogers ESPN Staff Writer

The Cubs signed lefty Drew Smyly to a 2 year deal. He had Tommy John surgery last summer and will rehab for most of 2018. Brandon Morrow's deal is official as well. Two years plus a club/vesting option for 2020.

Tyler Chatwood's new contract with the Cubs might have to be reworked due to an escalator that could take effect based on a single Cy Young Award vote.

Jesse Rogers ESPN Staff Writer

Cubs GM Jed Hoyer says new ideas have popped up recently as some teams have changed directions. He wouldn't get into specifics: "There's some things that have changed with teams since we were here (GM Meetings) last time. Circumstances have changed or ideas have changed...There are teams shifting what they want to do."

Jesse Rogers ESPN Staff Writer

Blackhawks rookie RW Alex DeBrincat joins Emily Kaplan to discuss how he overcomes being undersized, his preferred coaching style, trash talk in the NHL and the biggest splurge he's made since being drafted. Plus, superlatives on his Chicago teammates!